Has anyone seen/bought Peter Gabriel Play today?

I finally got to watch most of it today and really like it. Many of the videos are really works of art in their own rite and the music is terrific. I can't say I was bothered at all by the surround mixes. There are differences from the original stereo (also available as noted previously). Overall for $11.99 this is a WINNER. I like feeling that you got more than you paid and this is definitely the case here. I will be watching/listening to this many times.

 

Yeah, Kate is in the rears but so is a lot of Peter's lead vocals. I don't recall which ones specifically but I listened to the whole thing last night and the rear vocals freaked out my dog. I had to take him out of the room.

The Tchad Blake mixes are the same as the SACD.

 

I'm pretty happy to have all these videos in one place, but a couple of the production decisions have left me wondering:

'In Your Eyes' is a new compilation video set to the album version of the song. The long live version used back then to promote the movie 'Say Anything' is referenced visually in the intro remarks but itself does not appear. Probably one of the best live versions of the song. And why they didn't use the single mix of the song, with the extra verse at the end, is strange since this would have been a perfect opportunity to showcase it. Oh well, at least it's secure on vinyl.

'Biko' is the original video by Godley & Creme to promote the 1988 film of the same title. It features extensive clips from the film intercut with shots of Peter and audience from a 1987 live performance at the Blossom Music Center which also provides the audio. In the broadcast version the clips from the movie included the actors dialogue, quite effectively edited to fit with the song and give the view a sense of what the song is about. Here the dialogue is muted so you only see their lips moving. "Gee, they're saying something, what could it be? what is this song about?" It basically undercuts the original direction of the video. Maybe they did it to avoid royalties?

'I Don't Remember' also has actors' dialogue from the original muted in this version, specifically the scene in the middle where the men in the circle ask Peter, in turn, "Are you a snake?" "Are you a bird?" "Are you a man?" to which he answers with the chorus "I don't remember/I don't recall" &c. The original directors intent, which gave it a creepy, Lamb-like vibe, is muted along with the voices.

Finally, the sound edit/cue/segue that moves the end of Sledgehammer from the song to the 'air-drums' at the end of the video is changed.

For someone who professes not to want to revisit his past work very much, Peter sure does put his stamp of approval on some product that does that and so much more!

 

In Your Eyes: Isn't that live video version from POV? Eventually we'll see that on DVD--hopefully not ruined the way the SWL DVD presentation is. The studio single mix is STILL not on CD or DVD. That and the original b-side Special Mix are both terrific. Another opportunity blown.

Biko: That same live version was released on a CD single in 1987, correct? Too bad they couldn't license the film audio for a 'true' video representation, assuming that was the problem.

I Don't Remember: They should have kept that voice-over! Was that left in on CV? I don't...remember (sorry).

Sledgehammer: You're referring to the audio in the final shots, with the "Light Bulb Man" pumping his fist? That "all percussion" moment is gone?? Is it just the straight album mix through the fade-out, then? Bad call. That last mix difference made for a nice variation--was lifted from the 12" extended dance mix by John Potoker.

 

Right. Oops.

Yes, that is the original source. Audio available on promo cd 'Before Us'

Yes, a UK import CD single. Good live version. The original video was very moving w/ the dialogue.

Also left off of the POV version. Too bad

No, the 'air percussion' is there, it's the actual quick edit from the song to the drums that is different. On the broadcast version and the Potoker remix it's a dramatic loud segue, now it's just kind of 'blah' --

Nitpicky I know but why tweak in this manner while maintaining a disinterest in revisiting the past?

 

The end of Sledgehammer sounds like it always did for me. I could be wrong though.

 

Is it my DVD player or is Robert Fripp's guitar part (it is Fripp isn't it?) completely gone from the surround mix of "Games Without Frontiers"? By which I mean the high guitar part that you hear right at the beginning.

This DVD is really interesting for me; I haven't heard many 5.1 music remixes before, and the other music DVDs I have mostly stay close to the stereo mixes, while this one really does surround you. I can't decide what I think. It's cool but it also seems a little gimmicky to me, like watching a 3D movie. It doesn't seem like the technique has been entirely perfected yet - tracks seem to drop in and out in a very obvious and not very smooth way. The new mixes seem to emphasize the wrong parts sometimes - some little percussion part will be really loud while something important (the backing vocals in Sledgehammer for instance) will be barely audible. But I don't have a top of the line system, it's just something my partner bought on the spur of the moment.

 

Have not played it yet, but this man is amazing when it comes to packaging and liner notes.Truly a class act.

 

Just be prepared for some visual alterations and many, many sonic differences that go well beyond the 5.1 aspect of the mix. Like SHAKING THE TREE, the idea, obviously, was not to just slap together the old mixes and toss 'em out there, some serious rejiggering went on, with PG's blessing. Except for "Solsbury Hill," the mixes are discrete and active, and sometimes, wildly different, even given how many times some of these have been different from the original mix! Even if one doesn't agree with everything--and no fan would, there's too much mixed up, down, all around, even out--that it's a whole new experience, which of course was the idea. But, for the price, a bargain and great fun if you can live with some of it.

 

Wow, just a very quick peek at a few tunes...MAJOR remixing....but pretty cool. Hearing the same thing a million times can get kinda predictable, so it's nice. AWESOME 5.1 ! Whew! Major bass too!

 

Finally got this. Some amazing 5.1 mixes, although a bit extreme in places, as many of you have pointed out.

As far as carry-over from his two compilations, CV and All About Us, only "Don't Give Up (version 2)" didn't make it from CV to Play--maybe an easter egg? "Come Talk To Me" from AAU is absent from Play as well. Also, the new "Solsbury Hill" is considerably different visually from the AAU version, and, although the video is the same, Play replaces the studio remix of "Kiss That Frog" with a live version from Secret World Live.